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The newest American aircraft carrier of the Gerald R. Ford type, the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), will be transferred to the US Navy a year later than planned. This is reported by USNI News with reference to the plans of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII).
According to the publication, the transfer of the second Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier to the US will take place in 2025, and not in 2024, as previously planned. This is primarily due to the desire of the military to get a more combat-ready ship, and not to bring it after the transfer to the Navy, as is traditionally done in the American Navy. According to the initial contract between the Navy and HII, the construction of the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy was designed for a two-stage delivery, i.e. at the first stage the ship was transferred to the fleet in the "basic" version and already at the second stage the ship was retrofitted with additional equipment, including the integration of the deck version of the fifth-generation F-35C fighters. However, then it was decided to complete the construction of the aircraft carrier in one stage.
- it says in the documents of the US Navy.
It is also confirmed that after the transfer of the ship to the military, it will be deployed in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the growing power of China.
The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy is the second in a series of ten ships of the Gerald R. Ford type. The new nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are to replace the Nimitz-type ships in the US Navy, which have been in operation since 1975. The official laying ceremony of the aircraft carrier took place on August 22, 2015, although in fact its construction was started in December 2010, and the ceremony of the first steel cutting took place on February 25, 2011. The launch of the ship took place on December 7, 2019, at the same time the christening ceremony of the aircraft carrier took place.
The new aircraft carriers have a length of 337 m, a maximum width of 78 m, and a displacement of about 100,000 tons. According to the stated characteristics, they can carry an air wing of up to 90 aircraft and helicopters. It is planned to place F-35, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, as well as MH-60R/S helicopters on them.
